Basketball

Ringo: More than Dinwiddie missing in CU Buffs' loss

For the first time in a long time Thursday night, I saw a Colorado basketball team that didn't look like it believed it could win on its home court.

I would never expect the Buffs to admit it, but they clearly lacked the confidence and bravado that has allowed them to be so dominant at the Coors Events Center under coach Tad Boyle.

Maybe Askia Booker still had it. Maybe Josh Scott still had it, but the cast of young talent around those two played timid basketball at times in a 69-56 loss to UCLA.

We knew there would be some problems after losing point guard Spencer Dinwiddie to a season-ending knee injury last weekend at Washington.

Here is what those problems look like.

First and foremost, Dinwiddie was a big part of this team's personality. Without him, the Buffs don't seem to know who they are and they certainly can't believe in who they are without the first part figured out.

Booker and Scott might have played with the same confidence they normally do, but it wasn't rubbing off on their teammates the way it does when Dinwiddie is in the lineup.

"One thing Spencer did bring to this team is a swagger and a confidence and we need to get that back," Boyle said. "We need to get that back as a group, not just one individual."

Changing a team's personality at midseason is hard to do and this is a team that basically had the change forced upon it.

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It's not going to get its old swagger back without Dinwiddie because it was mostly his swagger. But it can get a different kind of swagger. It's up to the players to decide what that looks like.

Second, this is a team with no clear-cut replacement to run the point, drive to the basket, make clutch free throws and defend at a high level on the other end. Dinwiddie did all of that and he did it well.

CU had 17 turnovers against the Bruins and it allowed itself to be bullied in the paint at times by a guy, Jordan Adams, whom Dinwiddie probably would have been guarding if he was healthy.

Freshman Jaron Hopkins and sophomores Xavier Talton and Eli Stalzer will play better as they gain more confidence throughout the rest of the season. Dinwiddie spent time on the bench coaching each Thursday and that's going to help.

Maybe the sum of all their best attributes can fill Dinwiddie's rather large shoes eventually. Boyle has to hope they can win some games along the way as they learn to do that.

There was something else missing in the building Thursday that Boyle and his team only have limited control over.

The crowd didn't seem to believe in the Buffs either.

Note to CU fans: If your team ever needed you to make the Events Center an intimidating place to play, now would be that time. Yet, there were literally dozens of possessions for the Bruins in which that wasn't the case at all.

This team needs a little juice right now and it clearly wasn't getting it from a crowd that was sitting on its hands too much waiting for something to cheer. Obviously, that is generally the way it works in sports, but it can't work that way with this team right now.

Boyle implored media members not to count out his team after the loss.

The thought never crossed my mind. I'm still a firm believer this team has the talent to do some damage in the Pac-12 and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The Buffs just need to figure out who they are without Dinwiddie, believe in themselves, get some more confident play at point guard and get their fans to blow the roof off the place.

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